The analysis conducted by Chainalysis showed that despite the decline in other forms of criminal activity, crypto crimes reached record levels of $20 billion last year. The volume of illegal transactions amounted to 0.24% of the total pool of transactions with digital assets. Compared to 2021, this indicator was exceeded twice.
Recall that in 2021, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC) took a number of tough measures against crypto platforms. Since then, OFAC has stopped pinpointing attackers’ crypto addresses and has taken into account all platforms on which illegal transactions were made. As a result, it was revealed that a significant part of the sanctions activity was related to funds received by the Russian crypto exchange Garantex and other similar services. Meanwhile, the Garantex exchange continues its activities to date. After the sanctions were imposed in the middle of last spring, the volume of funds credited to Garantex amounted to $ 1.3 billion.
According to Kim Grauer, head of the Chainalysis research department, sanctions were also imposed against the Hydra darknet market, as well as the popular Tornado Cash crypto mixer, which is associated with the laundering of billions of USD stolen as a result of cybercrimes, to limit illegal activities.
The Chainalysis report additionally notes an increase in the amount of funds received over the past year as a result of hacking by groups from North Korea. Hackers from this country established a new personal achievement and stole funds in the equivalent of $1.6 billion. In total, the volume of stolen digital assets in 2022 amounted to $3.8 billion, compared to $3.3 billion in 2021.